Peripheral Vision

Cricket has probably become the most transformed sport over the past 10-15 years. In depth analysis, advancement in technology; as well as evolution of technique has revolutionised the sport. I want to show you an example of a catch that has started to become more common in the sport. For all of you people with a cricket phobia let me explain a quick rule before you watch the video.

When the batsman hits the ball and the fielder catches it without it touching the ground, the batsman is out, but if the batsman hits the ball and it clears the boundary without bouncing he is rewarded with 6 runs. If however, the fielder catches the ball beyond the boundary or he/she is touching the boundary rope while catching the ball, then the batsman is still awarded the maximum score (6).

Right, I hope that makes sense, here is the video:

This type of catch has become quite common in the modern game and there is one key ingredient which has helped cricketers to master it; peripheral vision.

What is peripheral vision?

Peripheral vision is our sight on the outer edge, when we can perceive something in the corner of our eye while our eyes are focused on a primary target object. In the example above, the cricketers vision is firmly fixed on the ball, but the peripheral vision is crucial to judge the boundary rope. So they both play an integral part in the catch.

Those of you who have read my previous blog posts will probably be wondering where I am going with this, as it doesn't seem even remotely spiritual and you would be right, it's not, but I wanted to illustrate the point about peripheral vision.

In spiritual life we have certain goals which we try to achieve and our spiritual practices (sadhana) are a means to that goal. In addition to this, for many of us a key part of our spiritual life is sharing wisdom/spirituality with others. Keeping Sadhana and sharing spirituality in harmony can sometimes become a difficult task. 

A prominent saint gave a simple but wonderful explanation of what he called "The tree of life"

The roots - Our spiritual practice, reading/hearing, meditation, the activities we perform to connect with God.

The trunk - Our lifestyle; the daily activities we spend our time on to keep us balanced physically, mentally and spiritually This helps us to take care of our roots.

Branches - What we are giving back, how we share our spirituality with others.

I spoke to a close friend recently and he shared a very wonderful point, that two of the three aspects of the tree (the roots and trunk) are fixed but the branches are very flexible. He explained that if we can put the effort into making sure we have nurtured our roots and trunk, then we can become grounded in our own spiritual life, but the branches are flexible and we can adapt depending on the time, place and circumstance, provided that the roots and trunk are sufficiently nourished.

What constitutes a strong trunk and healthy roots is usually a unanimous verdict, but since the branches are so flexible it can be the subject of great controversy and disagreement. Developing branches which are both faithful to the trunk and roots, but intelligent enough to adapt to different situations can be one of the most difficult tasks.

There is a wonderful verse in the Bhagavad Gita which explains that austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others.

Sharing spirituality with others but not applying the principles of austerity of speech is just like catching the cricket ball beyond the boundary rope, we may well have caught the ball, but what has it practically done for the team when you have crossed the boundary rope? On the contrary, being too focused on the boundary rope and missing the ball altogether is also not desired. This can be compared to being too focused on being overly liberal to the extent that the branches become disconnected from the rest of the tree. 

Developing peripheral vision in our own lives can help us nourish our own tree while also encouraging others with theirs